"Today, over 100 years later, the Bahai faith has emerged from the obscurity of its beginnings in Persia and is now represented in countries and communities all over the world... The United States is one of the main strongholds of Bahaism. "

"Table 13.1: Statistics on Baha'ism " [Figure used for congregations figure is "Total local assemblies "]

Bahai Faith

world

3,822,630

-

-

-

1975

MacEoin, Denis. "Baha'ism " in Hinnells, John R. (ed). A Handbook of Living Religions, Penguin Books: New York (1991) [reprint; 1st published in 1984]; pg. 493.

"the 'World Christian Encyclopedia'... gives a fig. of 14,600 Baha'is in the U.K. in 1975, when [they prob. were] 5,000, [many] of whom were Iranian pioneers... the Encyclopedia's figure of 3,822,630 Baha'is world-wide in 1980 is similarly exaggerated. "

"Table 13.1: Statistics on Baha'ism " [Figure used for congregations figure is "Total local assemblies "]

Bahai Faith

world

-

-

-

192 countries

1982

*LINK* official web site (viewed 1998); web page: How Many Baha'is Are There? "; "Excerpted from The Baha'is, a publication of the Baha'i International Community. Pg. 14 "

"It is important to qualify these figures by noting that, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia, some sects or sub-groups-of Christianity and Islam grew faster than the Bah??Faith during this period. None of these sects or sub-groups, however, were listed as having followers in more than 100 countries. The Baha'i Faith, was listed as having established "significant " communities in more than 192 countries in 1982, at the time of the Encyclopedia's publication. "

"While precise statistics are now available, there appear to be just over 3 million Baha'is around the world, of whom nearly half live in one or other of the two largest national communities: India and Iran. "

"Today there are 30,000 elected local spiritual assemblies, functioning in over two hundred independent states and major territories; and there are more than 100,000 centers where Baha'is or Baha'i groups, reside. "

"The Baha'i Faith has come to be widely recognized as one of the world's most rapidly growing religions, embracing adherents from almost every racial, social, cultural, and national origin, and carrying on... activities in some 200 sovereign states and major territories. "

"By 1985, it was estimated that there were about 3,500,000 Baha'is in the world. "

Bahai Faith

world

3,500,000

-

-

-

1985

*LINK* official web site (viewed 1998); web page: How Many Baha'is Are There? "; "Excerpted from The Baha'is, a publication of the Baha'i International Community. Pg. 14 "

"Over the last three decades, the number of Baha'is in the world has grown dramatically. It is estimated that there were about 400,000 Baha'is in the world in 1963, the year of the First Baha'i World Congress. By 1985, it was estimated that there were about 3,500,000 Baha'is in the world. In other words, the Baha'i Faith has grown by an estimated 1,500,000 believers over the last 6 years, an increase of roughly 43%. "

"The Baha'i Faith: Though less statistically minded, they estimate a membership of 400,000 in 1963, 3.5 million in 1985, 5 million in 1994. Source: Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions, David V Barrett. "

"This message gradually spread, until today it has four million followers in most of the world's races, cultures, and geographic regions. They were formerly members of all the different religions, or none at all. "

"Accurately estimating the number of any world religion is a difficult and complex task. In some regions of the world, religious persecution or government oppression may make individual believers reluctant to identify themselves. In other areas, poor communications or travel networks make it difficult to obtain data. With these difficulties in mind, demographers at the Baha'i World Centre have attempted to be as conservative as possible in estimating the number of Baha'is worldwide. Their most recent survey yielded an estimate of 5,000,000 Baha'is in 1991. "

Bahai Faith

world

5,000,000

-

-

-

1991

*LINK* official web site (1998); web page: How Many Baha'is Are There? "; "Excerpted from The Baha'is, a publication of the Baha'i International Community. Pg. 14 "

"With these difficulties in mind, demographers at the Baha'i World Centre have attempted to be as conservative as possible in estimating the number of Baha'is worldwide. Their most recent survey yielded an estimate of 5,000,000 Baha'is in 1991. "

Bahai Faith

world

5,400,000

-

-

-

1991

*LINK* official web site (1998); web page: How Many Baha'is Are There? "; "Excerpted from The Baha'is, a publication of the Baha'i International Community. Pg. 14 "

"The inherent conservatism of their methodology is evident when Baha'i statistics are compared with estimates made by other religious scholars. Each year, for example, the Encyclopaedia Britannica publishes a table of religious demographic statistics. According to the 1992 Britannica Book of the Year, there were 5,400,000 Baha'is worldwide in 1991. "

Graphic: "Geographic Spread of the World's Independent Religions "; "According to the 1992 Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year, the Baha'i Faith is established in 205 sovereign countries and dependent territories. This point was first made in 1982, in the World Christian Encyclopedia. That volume reported on the work of some 500 scholars, demographers and statisticians who conducted the first comprehensive survey of religious believers worldwide. "

Bahai Faith

world

-

-

-

205 countries

1992

*LINK* official web site (1998); web page: How Many Baha'is Are There? "; "Excerpted from The Baha'is, a publication of the Baha'i International Community. Pg. 14 "

"More recent figures, reported in the 1992 Britannica Book of the Year, show the Baha'i Faith as having significant communities in 205 countries, second only to Christianity in its geographic spread. "

Bahai Faith

world

-

-

-

232 countries

1992

*LINK* official web site (1998); web page: How Many Baha'is Are There? "; "Excerpted from The Baha'is, a publication of the Baha'i International Community. Pg. 14 "

"Statisticians at the Baha'i World Centre calculated in 1992 that the Faith is established in 232 countries and dependent territories. "

"...recent figures, reported in the 1992 Britannica Book of the Year, show the Baha'I Faith as having significant communities in 205 countries, second only to Christianity in its geographic spread. Statisticians at the Baha'i World Centre calculated in 1993 that the Faith is established in 233 countries and dependent territories. "

"In just over 100 years, the Baha'i Faith has grown into the second-most widespread independent world religion with over 5,000,000 members. The Baha'i Faith is one of the diverse organized body of people on the planet, made up of over 2,100 social, ethnic, racial and tribal groups. "

"In at least 232 countries and dependent territories there are approximately 5 million members worldwide with more than 2100 different ethnic groups. "; [This was the original text, 1996 version. The page was updated in late 1998 and the text changed.]

Countries (205) from table under heading "...and where are the Baha'is? " [Shows number of countries major religions are in.]; Under graphic heading: "Unity in Diversity: "Number of Baha'is in the world: 6 million; National Spiritual Assemblies in the world: 165; Number of local Spiritual Assemblies: 20,000; Baha'i Houses of Worship (one Center on each continent): 7; Sites for future Baha'i Houses of Worship: 122; Number of Baha'is in the United States: 116,000; Number of localities where Baha'is live in U.S: 7,000 "

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